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A new radical range of fast drying (even at 6oC), cost effective, water based paints using a patented polymer formulation that is easily overcoated .
About
A unique industrial grade water based paint that can be used outdoors as it dries in under an hour down to 6oC unlike any other paint on the market. It has zero VOCs and provides the same protection as traditional alkyd or white spirit based paints. Tens of thousands of gallons of paint are used in the UK every year. Metal work left outdoors suffers from the wonderful British weather and will corrode and rot away if not painted. But as the paint dries it releases Volatile Organic Compounds into the atmosphere. Products painted indoors can use water based paints saving the release of VOCs. But this paint needs temperatures over 20oC otherwise it will not dry. And if not dry, and it rains, all the paint washes off. A huge amount of plant and equipment sits outdoors and needs to be painted every few years. Working with SK Formulations, Rosh Engineering have adapted a radical and new double bonded polymer water based paint for applications in the electricity supply industry. It dries at temperatures as low as 6oC in under an hour. This means that valuable plant and equipment are protected with ZERO damage to the atmosphere. There are an estimated 1million power transformers in the UK. The largest will need 1000 litres of paint every 8 – 10 years. The smallest about 30 litres. The volumes required are enormous and the VOCs released from alkyd paints currently runs into millions of kilograms per year. There are about 120,000 electricity pylons in the UK all needing regular painting like the transformers. The amount of VOCs released by this industry alone is enormous, but no environmentally friendly solution that could be effectively applied all year round like alkyd paints was available until now.
Key Benefits
The bulk of painting costs for electricity pylons or transformers is labour. It is a skilled operation. Paint material costs are about 10% of total project costs. The higher cost of the environmentally friendly SK paint is more than offset by the shorter time needed to complete painting due to the incredibly fast drying and overcoating time of the paint. Labour costs are invariably 80% of the total project cost so saving just 20% of time – or one day a week- on a project improves operational efficiency enormously. For example £10,000 project cost has £8,000 labour costs. 20% saving = £1,600. If £1,000 for paint a 30% higher price will only be £300 more. Nett saving £1,300 or 13% of the total project cost. This does not account for the early return to production of the plant that has shutdown for painting. The electricity industry has a clear goal to reduce environmental impact, & other industries are not far behind. Warehouses to storage tanks, bridges to balustrades can all benefit. Additional applications are also available using the same technology. While the volumes are smaller, and environmental improvements not as marked, the direction of travel is still positive. The conservative nature of industry needs to be tackled. When existing products do the job well why change? Too many want to wait 10 years to see if the SK Formulations paint last as long as alkyd paints, not believing accelerated laboratory trials. Ten years is too late. Environmental issues need tackling now.
Applications
Painting of: electrical equipment. Steelwork. Plant. Apparatus.